Cons

Verdict

An effective gun for every CQB skirmish while still having the power and range to compete with other AEGs in wider fields.

The MP5 is a favored weapon among Special Weapons And Tactics teams around the globe for it's compact size, ergonomics and ease of handling. It is a 9x19mm Select-fire Delayed Blowback sub machine gun designed by the renowned Heckler & Koch weapons company. The MP5 is in essence a G3 assault rifle re-chambered in the 9x19mm Parabellum pistol caliber to become a sub machine gun.

The Top-Tech MP5A5 aims to re-create the MP5 accurately, while taking some artistic liberties with the foregrip and replacing the retractable stock of the original MP5A5 with the stock of a UMP45, which is sturdier and more ergonomic, as well as featuring a quick-detach sling swivel.

The presentation when you first open the box is one of the best for its class. With the rails, and accessories neatly tucked and secured in their places. The Top Tech MP5 includes a full color manual which offers an ID card for the AEG that offers 2 full years of warrantee, parts and labor, as well as your guns unique serial number.

The Top-Tech MP5A5 comes in both UMP stock and retractable stock flavors.

The gun itself has a very solid construction with an aluminum upper receiver and cocking tube. The metal bolt handle makes a very satisfying metallic ?clank? when you perform the famous 'HK Slap' by pulling the bolt back, locking it in place and slapping the bolt down so it hits the metal coking tube. Doing this too often is inadvisable though, since excessive slapping will fatigue the bolt and may cause it to snap off and go flying. The metal parts on the MP5 are all cast aluminum as opposed to the stamped and welded steel on the real steel, but on the receivers the imitation weld marks are realistic and convincing.

The lower receiver is of the newer, ambidextrous, plastic type. This newer design holds straighter and highly elegant lines, with a simplified ambidextrous fire select lever with Safe, Semi, and Full-Auto pictograms adorning both sides of the body. The real steel A5 variant of the MP5 has a three round burst mode, however this is very difficult to produce reliably on an AEG and thus has been omitted to avoid confusion. The markings are not of the best quality but you won?t notice any real differences until you scrutinize it really closely.

The foregrip is enlarged to hold specially shaped 9.6v batteries or 11.1v Lithium Polymer batteries. It is excessively comfortable to hold and provides good grip for fast aiming. Three rails are provided that bolt onto the foregrip on recessed nuts molded into the grip. Without the rails, the grip looks menacing and bulky. Add the rails and it transforms into a sleek tactical look that will draw the eyes of any MP5 lover. A vertical foregrip attachment would make this gun even easier to handle in CQB conditions that this gun was designed for. In the package is also a low profile top rail mount that attaches to the aluminum upper receiver

The original MP5A5 has a retractable stock that slides into the grooves on the sides of the upper receiver, however this original solution is not very comfortable to shoulder and can be slightly unstable. To remedy this, Top-Tech has replaced the retractable stock with that of the much more ergonomic UMP stock. This folding, polymer skeletal stock has a rubberized cheek rest and folds to the right. It is very comfortable to shoulder and the cheek rest makes aligning your eyes with the sights instinctive. It even has a quick detach sling swivel mount for tactical slings. The sling point is perfectly positioned for a one point sling, allowing you to simply drop the gun to your side and draw your pistol should you need to.

The QD sling mounting point is in the ideal position for a one point sling

Now the real interesting point of the Top-Tech MP5 series is the new pneumatic blowback system. Instead of a mechanical rod connecting the piston to a dummy bolt carrier, there is an extra cylinder above the gearbox, this houses a piston that is connected to the bolt carrier. As the gearbox's piston slams forward to propel the BB through the barrel, excess pressure is bled from the main cylinder into the smaller, blowback cylinder that sits atop the gearbox. This pushes back the piston connected to the bolt carrier and simulates blowback. This system is remarkably similar to the gas piston operation found in many real firearms. Real firearms such as the AK74 and its variants use a piston above the barrel to harness excess pressure from firing the bullet to push back the bolt carrier to cycle the mechanism. This blowback system means that when the gearbox is half cycled in between full auto bursts, the bolt will never remain in a half open position that occurs in many mechanical blowback systems found in other new AEGs.

The Top-Tech MP5A5 succeeds in creating a realistic replica and extremely fun shooting experience with an innovative new blowback system that prevents mechanical jams, wear and damage to the internal mechanism.